Cinema doesn’t look anything like what it did even a decade ago, when Marvel Studios’ first film, 2008’s Iron Man, premiered. It’s too easy, too simple, and too snobby to blame Marvel movies for popular filmmaking’s newfound obsession with brand-dependent, drawn-out stories, but Marvel’s astonishing success both parallels and exemplifies the trend—making Endgame seem like a crystalline example of what happens when corporate synergy, cheap technology, and a desperate need for candy-colored fantasy all line up. After all, Trump’s president, you won’t be able to retire, and climate change is about to kill untold millions. I don’t know about you, but I bought my Endgame tickets weeks ago. by Erik Henriksen